Magic's Core
by The Bard2
Summary: The Key is ancient mystical energy, so what will happen when more ancient mystical energy turns up in Sunnydale?


Title - Magic's Core Part - 1 Part Title - The Fates  
  
Author - Shane A. Hopkins (the_bard@mtnexus.com)  
  
Pairing - Not disclosed  
  
Spoilers - a few mentions of a season 6 event, and set after episode #7.06 "Him"  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: The Key is ancient mystical energy, so what will happen when more ancient mystical energy turns up in Sunnydale?  
  
Feedback: Is Clem a demon? Hell yeah  
  
Distribution: Am I Real? http://mtnexus.com/Am-I-Real and sites that have my permission.  
  
Author's Note: No animals were harmed during the making of this fanfic :)  
  
Disclaimer - What I don't own. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. What I do own. Everything not owned by the above mentioned people / companies is owned by me but you may use any of it as long as you give me credit.  
  
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Magic's Core - 1 - The Fates  
  
Bob the junior night watchman at the Sunnydale Museum was bored, nothing ever happened here, well, the watchman had heard about what had happened to Rusty last year, but no-one believed him that it was two geeks and a mime, of course no-one could explain it though.  
  
"Bob, on yer feet lad, we got a delivery comin' in," came Jim's voice. Jim was the supervising night watchman.  
  
"A delivery? Now?" Bob asked as he got up off his chair and walked out towards the back store room.  
  
"Yeah, special delivery, from a Dr. D.S. Ummers, professor at UC Sunnydale."  
  
"Is it? I didn't know there was a Dr. D.S. Ummers."  
  
"And just how would you know lad?" Jim asked as he set the package down on the bench near them.  
  
"My brother goes there, studying pop culture or something."  
  
"I see, come on, lets go, it's time to make the rounds."  
  
"Okay, you want to take the north end Jim or should I?" Bob asked turned away from Jim and started to walk towards the door.  
  
From behind him there was a silent pop and a burst of light.  
  
Bob spun round and there was no sign of Jim, "Jim? Jim! Where are you?" he took three steps forward so he was right beside the package, he heard a soft hum coming from it, "What the...?"  
  
A bright flash of light suddenly burst from the package, Bob threw his hands up in front of his face to protect his eyes.  
  
The last thing Bob ever saw was the skeletal shape of his hands.  
  
  
  
The sun shone outside as Dawn sat in class listening, absentmindedly to the teacher drone on about geometric shapes and their relation to mathematics. Of course she wasn't paying any attention, instead she was staring out at the field and wishing she could be out there.  
  
"Boring," she said under her breath.  
  
"Tell me about it," Kit whispered from beside her.  
  
"Don't you just wish you were out there?"  
  
"Yeah," Kit said following Dawn's gaze, then turned back to look at Dawn with a smile, "But, where as I'd like to coz it's nice out, I bet you'd rather be out there because of a certain football quarterback, who just happens to be practicing out there right now."  
  
Dawn hid a slightly embarrassed smile, "Yeah, kinda."  
  
Suddenly a loud crack echoed from outside, followed by sounds of things hitting the ground. Most of the class were on their feet looking out the window trying to see what it was that had made the sound.  
  
"Oh my God," the teacher said in a stage whisper.  
  
Outside it had started raining cats and dogs, and Sunnydale being atop the Hellmouth, that phrase was seemingly being taken literally, there were dead cats and dogs falling from the sky.  
  
Kit and Dawn looked at each other, "Buffy," the both said.  
  
  
  
Buffy was standing looking out the window when Dawn and Kit ran into the guidance office.  
  
"Took you guys long enough, Willow's on it, she said it has something to do with a new magickal force in town," Buffy said turning to face them.  
  
"What's going to happen to them?" Kit asked.  
  
"Well, according to Will they should vanish in an hour or so, they're apparitions not real animals."  
  
"Um, what about the other people? Aren't they gonna notice?" Kit asked.  
  
"The people of this town have a knack of repressing anything that doesn't make sense," Buffy said as she sat down at her desk.  
  
"They really do that? After seeing all these weird things?"  
  
"Yeah, mom was an expert at it before she learned the truth," Dawn said.  
  
"The human mind has a tendency to ignore things that don't fit into people's narrow view of the universe," Buffy said, subconsciously paraphrasing something Giles had told her once.  
  
"And they say the town is weird," Kit let out a short laugh.  
  
"Yeah, the people are weirder," Dawn agreed with a similar laugh.  
  
  
  
"Xander, will you sit down?" Willow said looking up from the book she was looking in.  
  
"Sorry, Will, it's just... There's cats and dogs falling from the sky," Xander said gesturing emphatically out the window.  
  
"That's true, but your pacing is going to wear a hole in the carpet, and they are expensive to replace," Anya said from her seat beside Willow.  
  
Xander threw a withering look at her, "I think we have bigger problems than Buffy's carpet."  
  
"Hey, both of you, Buffy should be home soon and we have almost nothing on what's causing this," Willow said interrupting before Anya could reply.  
  
"I wouldn't say almost nothing," Anya said.  
  
"Yeah, more like squat, as in absolutely nothing," Xander added.  
  
"I know," Willow said looking downtrodden.  
  
"What about what you said earlier, about feeling something?" Xander asked.  
  
"I don't know, it was like a gentle breeze across my mind, as if a magick similar to mine arrived and was testing my defences."  
  
"Is that even possible?" Xander asked sitting in down in the nearest chair.  
  
"Yeah, it is, if someone else had absorbed magick the way I did, their magick would be similar."  
  
"The core!" Anya exclaimed.  
  
"The what?" Xander asked in a startled tone.  
  
"Of course," A look of understanding dawned in Willow's eyes, she looked over at the bookcase, and a book flew out of it and into her hand, the understanding in her eyes faded to bewilderment.  
  
"What is it Will?"  
  
"I didn't do that."  
  
"Yes you did, we saw you, you looked over at the book and it came to you," Anya said.  
  
"Yeah I know, but I didn't do it, there's something in town that's upsetting the balance of magick."  
  
"The core," Anya repeated.  
  
"It can't be here, it was lost around the dawn of time," Willow said.  
  
"Um, needing some back story here," Xander said.  
  
"Magic's Core, it's a mystical artefact that is the source of all magick, it was lost during the demonic wars that occurred shortly after demon kind lost their purchase on this reality."  
  
"Okay, and you're saying it's here? In Sunnydale?" Xander said looking between Willow and Anya.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
  
  
In the basement of Sunnydale High School the thing lurked in the shadows heard Willow's words.  
  
"It is here? How could I not sense it?" the shadow moved forward a few paces, "No! How can that be? How could I not sense The Key?"  
  
To be continued in Magic's Core part 2 


End file.
